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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Vincent Whelan

Tyson Fury calls for knife criminals to be castrated in emotional interview after cousin's death

Tyson Fury wants to see tougher punishment dished out to knife criminals in the aftermath of his cousin Rico Burton being killed.

The heavyweight champ spoke to talkSport about what he sees as another pandemic which the UK is currently engulfed in.

He said: "The government, the UK, we're supposed to be one of the safest countries in the world.

READ MORE: Tyson Fury claims Anthony Joshua's legacy is "in tatters" after OIeksandr Usyk defeat

"We can't go down the street with a watch on or anything or we'll get stabbed."

He then urged the government to 'make it tougher on these cowards who carry knives and weapons'.

Rico was a former boxer himself (Twitter)

And the 34-year-old then went even further by stating those found guilty of attacking someone with a blade should be castrated as he also spoke of wanting to see automatic 5-7 year jail sentences meted out for even carrying a knife.

He continued: "It costs the government too much money to house them in a prison.

"It costs them £60-70,000 a year to put these scumbags in jail. Castrate the little b*stards.

“What little cowardly scumbag needs to carry a knife with them in our country?”

Tyson's 31-year-old cousin Rico was killed in the early hours of Sunday morning after a scuffle allegedly broke out in a bar in the Greater Manchester area.

A brawl was believed to have broken out as a separate group of people argued over gaining entry to a pub.

Rico’s friend and former coach Shaun Egan told the Mail Online that Rico had stepped in to break things up but the men had turned on him.

Rico and friends had been out watching Anthony Joshua's bout against Oleksandr Usyk before the tragic incident occurred around 3 am.

A 21-year-old man, Liam O'Prey, has since been charged with his murder while another relative of Tyson and Rico remains in hospital having been wounded in the alleged attack.

This tragedy is the latest in a spate of knife-related deaths in the United Kingdom over recent times with the bulk of them occurring in its capital of London.

Reflecting on the weekend's events, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Knife crime is destroying lives and devastating families.

"This is yet another horrific killing on Britain's streets. It is becoming a national crisis and we need urgent action before more lives are lost."

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